“Kill the Indian, save the man.”

~ Richard Henry Pratt

Navajo Nation map, 1868 to present, Smithsonian Institute.

After the Navajo were removed from their sacred land by the U.S. Military in 1864, Navajo leaders Manuelito and Chief Barboncito signed the Navajo Treaty in 1868. This allowed the Navajo to return to their land on the condition that their children attended boarding schools.

“In order to insure the civilization of the Indians entering into this treaty, the necessity of education is admitted, especially of such of them as may be settled on said agricultural parts of this reservation, and they therefore pledge themselves to compel their children, male and female, between the ages of six and sixteen years, to attend school; and it is hereby made the duty of the agent for said Indians to see that this stipulation is strictly complied with; and the United States agrees that, for every thirty children… a house shall be provided, and a teacher competent to teach the elementary branches of an English education.”

~ Article 6, transcript of excerpt of the Navajo Treaty of 1868

Excerpt from article 6 of the Navajo Treaty of 1868, National Archives.

“I'd been caught speaking Navajo three days before. The Pima matron brushed my teeth with brown Fels-Naptha soap. I still couldn't taste food, only the acrid, bitter taste of the lye soap.”

~ Chester Nez

Tom Torlino, 1882 and 1885, Carlisle Indian School Digital Resource Center.

The goal of sending the Navajo children to boarding schools was to assimilate them into American culture. There were several ways the schools did this, including cutting their hair, which was sacred to the Navajo. They were also taught Christianity and given Anglo-American names. They were taught English and forbidden to speak Navajo. If a student spoke Navajo in school they could be severely punished, for example: they would be horse whipped, branded, or get their mouths washed out with soap.